There was a special visitor in Grimsby today as Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn met with party members and knocked on doors on the town’s Nunsthorpe estate.

The Labour Party headquarters on Cleethorpe Road were rammed full of excited party members, eagerly awaiting the arrival of the man who has captured the hearts of many all over the country, with Mr Corbyn receiving a huge roar of support as soon as he entered.

Visiting the town to help kick-start Labour's local election campaign this year, he was keen to stress that he felt that the council had been doing a brilliant job despite the constant funding cuts put upon it by the Conservative Government.

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Speaking to party members at the headquarters he said: "Last year they called a general election and felt that they would destroy the Labour Party.

"We went out there with confidence and did it, our manifesto was transformative and inspiring and said to young people in a Labour Britain you will not have to go into debt to get an education, children will get nursery places, we will build half a million council houses, bring railways, water and mail into public ownership and we will invest in the future for all of us with a national investment bank.

"Austerity has got to end, we must reclaim the public realm for us, and an economy that works for all."

Following the rallying cry to party members, that went down like a house on fire with rapturous applause and cheering, the party leader then spoke with members of the media. They quizzed him on a number of important local issues ranging from pressures on the NHS, homelessness and housing, a direct rail link to London and even the council's relationship with Engie in the wake of the Carillion crisis.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn praised the cash-strapped council on a recent visit to Grimsby.

When asked about how a Labour administration would help struggling health trusts such as the North Lincolnshire and Goole, which has went into special measures he said:

"Fundamentally it is about funding and resources for the NHS.

"The crisis this winter when the Prime Minister told Parliament they were better prepared than ever for the winter, but when we returned to parliament after January we found that people were being treated in hospital corridors and car parks and 55,000 elective operations cancelled, adding to the million already on a waiting list.

"The only way to fix the NHS is to put more money into it, and we will raise corporation tax to pay for it and put £37 billion into the national health service over five years."

He also pointed out that the issue of social care is adding to the problems as elderly patients cannot be discharged because they have nowhere to go once they are.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn speaks to media during his visit to Grimsby.

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Furthermore, the lack of support for those with mental health issues is also putting a strain on the NHS, as patients are being sent to hospitals instead of an appropriate care service.

Also pledging that his administration would end the Sustainable Transformation Partnership process started by the Tory government, which would bring back vital hospital services to local areas, and stop patients having to travel long distances for treatment, especially in the case of emergencies.

On the issue of a "free port" in a post-Brexit Grimsby the Labour leader said: "All depends on the Brexit deal that we get it.

"We want recognicition of the result of the referendum, clearly we are leaving the EU, secondly a lot of jobs in Britain depend on trade with Europe and the supply chain for the manufacturing industry.

"What Grimsby produces in terms of fishing, along with renewable energy depends on trade with Europe, and we want to achieve tariff free access to the European market and that is what we are negotiating.

"We don't want this country to become a de-regulation zone on the shores of Europe."

When asked about the council's relationship with Engie in the wake of the Carillion crisis he said: "The principle I would want is public control of public services and we need to look at every one of these contracts and how they operate all around the country.

"Obviously Labour councillors ask very strong questions on all of this and hopefully Labour will remain in control of the council in May and be able to take that forward."

Mr Corbyn also made a call for compassion towards the homeless in our communities saying: "First of all, every homeless person is a vicitm of circumstance, I take to a lot of homeless people and they are homeless because of the intentionally homeless rule in housing.

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"Family break-up, mental health problems but they are all people and they deserve somewhere to live.

"What John Healey and myself have proposed is the emergency provision of 4,000 places straight away, which would require buying properties around the country to give them shelters.

"Thankfully a lot of councils are beginning to wake up to what a crisis this actually is."

The Labour Leader then went off with his team and other party members to the Nunsthorpe estate for a round of campaigning and door knocking, where he spoke candidly with residents about his party's ambitions for the future, saying that there is a very strong chance that he could be back in the town very soon.